Between Justin Timberlake’s controversial cultural appropriation drama and an Australian beauty vlogger sporting a hijab in an Eid makeup tutorial that rubbed people the wrong way, the internet has been the breeding ground for much heated debate this week.
Not to mention, Norway-based beauty blogger Gilan Sharafani also caught some flack for her latest tutorial for “Big Heatless Curls.” So, what’s the big deal with heatless curls? Well, while Sharafani may have dubbed the style, which isn’t new at all, curls, they are actually known as bantu knots — a hairstyle often worn by black women with natural hair, whose origins trace back to southern African.
We’ve seen many beautiful ladies rock bantu knots from your average, every day gal walking down the street to celebrities like Rihanna ruling the red carpet with the fly ‘do.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHFNaDaBHj9/
However, after posting her video and it being shared on popular beauty tutorial Facebook Page, Girls Creativity, nearly 8,000 comments expressing disappointment in her act of what many called cultural appropriation flooded the account:
“Big heatless curls? Uhuh honey, Bantu Knot Out! Black women been doing this for decades.”
“Pardon you? We Africans have been doing this for centuries, this is nothing new, I don’t care if you do it too, just give credit where it’s due! Also this particular method isn’t meant for your texture of hair so it didn’t come out properly.”
“Enjoy the hairstyle just don’t act like this is something new.”
“I think this is really disrespectful. If you are going to take something from someone else or a different culture, be respectful enough to give credit where it is due. You would have gotten more support from these so called “big heatless curls” if you would have just called them their respected name. Bantu knots!!”
“I’m so happy people are being informative about the Bantu knots this woman claims is new. Non-black/African people please do not be like this woman. Let’s all respect each other’s culture by acknowledging each other.”
“This is highly requested tutorial, where I show how you can fake big curly hair with no heat!” Sharafani captioned the video that shows her using the exact same technique of twisting strands of hair into tight coils and pinning them into place.
After receiving side eyes and backlash galore, Sharafani updated the caption of her video:
“For all of you commenting about what I shall call this style, I did not know that this was an African hair style TILL now! And I have never said that this is a new technique discovered by me! So if you want me to call it Bantu Knots, then it’s Bantu Knots.”
What are your thoughts on this situation? Did people taking things out of proportion or was Sharafani in the wrong?
